Safety-stop for railway-trains



(No Model.) 2 Sheet sSheet 1.

B. G. ROWELL. SAFETY STOP FOR RAILWAY TRAINS.

' No. 548223. Patented Oct. 22, 1895.

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

B. 0. HOWELL. SAFETY STOP FOR RAILWAY TRAINS.

No. 548,223. Patented Oct. 22, 1895.

jI/AWW.

UNITED STATES PATENT Ornion.

BENTON O. ROWELL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE ROWELL-POTTER SAFETY STOP COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

SAFETY-STOP FOR RAI LWAY-TRAI N s.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 548,223, dated October 22, 1895.

Application filed December 8, 1893. Serial No. 493,179- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENTON O. RowELL, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usef ul Safety-Stop for Railway-Trains, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating a portion of a car and a track with my apparatus applied. Fig. 2 is asectional elevation of the same.

Devices, one carried by the train, the other near the track, which work together to open a valve or do other work have long been known, but most of them have operated by depressing the track member of the apparatus as the train passed over it. For certain purposes this combination of devices is objectionable; and the object of my invention is to accomplish the same object, but by a lifting track member, which is mounted near the rail by means of a car member which rides under the track member. Practically it is highly desirable that the track member should be so near the rail that it can be controlled by a device on the train, which device runs on or near the rail; and my apparatus in its best form consists of a lever set at a right angle to the track and having a cam rigidly connected to the lever at the end adjacent to the track, the cam being arranged close to the rail, but clear of the wheels of the train, and lifted to do its work, whether its work be done mechanically, electrically, or pneumatically, (all well known in this art as practical substitutes,) and a train member which is carried by the train and runs close to the rail, but not necessarily in contact with the rail, all the time, but which runs under the cam and lifts the lever as the train travels along the track.

In the drawings the track member A is shown mounted near the track, having at one end a part a", inclined on. its lower face, so

that the part b of the car member B will pass under it and lift it, and as trains usually run sometimes in one direction and sometimes in the opposite direction over the same rail I have shown the incline double, so that the ear member B may operate in whatever direction the train be traveling. The part a is carried by lever at, whose fulcrum is at a, and this lever a carries electrode a which makes contact with electrode a when part a is lifted by the passage of car member B under it. The car member B is supported by the part b and is allowed to yield upward on occasion by reason of spring I), the tension of which is adjusted by turning the sleeve 19 so as to screw it into or out of the socket b The antifriction-wheel b is on tripping-pin b The best adjustment of wheel I) is such that it shall generally be just clear of the track.

The main advantage of my apparatus is that it can be used at the rear of a train, and therefore the signal or safety-stop controlled by lifting the track member B will not be operated until after the rear car of the train has passed track member B.

I am aware of the patent to E. II. Bronson, No. 210,293, dated November 26, 1878, and disclaim all therein shown.

WVhat I claim as my invention is 1. In combination a track; a lever at one side of and at right angles to one of the rails of a track and carrying a cam upon the under side of that end next the rail; that cam; and a support at the side of the rail for the fulcrum of the lever; all arranged and operating substantially as described.

2. In a tripping device, the combination of frame, tripping pin, adjustable rod and spring, all the parts being organized to operate substantially as shown and described.

BENTON O. ROWELL.

Witnesses:

GEORGE I-I. BLIss, JOHN P. LUXMORE. 

